''Agent Orange'' is the third studio album by German

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band Sodom, released on 1 June 1989 by SPV/Steamhammer. It was their last album with guitarist

Frank Blackfire Frank Blackfire (born Frank Gosdzik, 24 February 1966) is a German guitarist, who is best known as a member of the influential thrash metal bands Sodom and Kreator. Career Gosdzik was born in Essen. Inspired by attending an AC/DC concert, he ...

(who would later join

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédér ...

) until his return to the band in 2018. The lyrical content delves deeply into

Tom Angelripper Thomas Such (born 19 February 1963), better known by his stage name Tom Angelripper, is a German musician best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, main songwriter, and the only original remaining member of German thrash metal band Sodom. Biog ...

's fascination with the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, with a song dedicated to the ground assault aircraft AC-47 as well as the

Agent orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the "tactical use" Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. It ...

defoliant-inspired title-track. It was their first album to enter the

German album charts The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustr ...

where it reached number 36. Agent Orange sold 100,000 copies in Germany alone and marked the commercial break through for the band. The song "Ausgebombt" was released on the EP ''Ausgebombt'' with German lyrics. The album's liner notes carry the message: "This album is dedicated to all people – soldiers and civilians – who died by senseless aggressions of wars all over the world." In March 2010, ''Agent Orange'' was re-released in a

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

with bonus tracks and liner notes containing lyrics and rare photos.

Critical reception

In 2005, ''Agent Orange'' was ranked number 299 in ''

Rock Hard "Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdraw ...

'' magazine's book of ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''. In 2017, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked ''Agent Orange'' as 63rd on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time'.

Track listing

Track 9 is a bonus track for initial CD pressings.

Personnel

Sodom *

– vocals, bass *

– guitars *

Chris Witchhunter Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

– drums Production *Harris Johns – production, engineering, mixing *Andreas Marschall – cover art *Manfred Eisenblätter – photography

''Ausgebombt'' EP

The band released two songs from ''Agent Orange'' on its third EP, ''Ausgebombt''.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agent Orange (Album) Sodom (band) albums 1989 albums SPV/Steamhammer albums Albums produced by Harris Johns

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

''Ausgebombt'' EP

Track listing

Charts

See also

References